The present invention generally relates to the field of producing a milk/water mixture. Such mixture can be prepared for producing a cappuccino-type coffee beverage by adding the mixture on top of a coffee beverage.
A device for producing such a mixture can be a stand-alone solution or integrated into a coffee or other beverage producing machine. As it is known form the prior art, in order to produce such a mixture, water is supplied to a heater unit heating the water and producing steam. The thus generated steam is fed to a mixing head in which, e.g., by applying a Venturi effect, milk supplied from a milk supply and air from an air inlet is sucked into the water steam flow which results in a heated water/milk mixture which can then be drained from an outlet nozzle of the mixing head to a cup.
A well known problem is that after having produced the desired amount of the mixture, the milk inlet of the mixing head, the interior of the mixing head itself as well as the outlet nozzle have been in contact with milk and thus have to be cleaned e.g., by rinsing the milk flow path from the milk inlet to the mixing area and the outlet nozzle. In known devices this is a labor intensive and time consuming process generally requiring a manual rinsing of the milk flow path. The rinsing or cleaning can actually take substantially more time and effort than the step of producing the mixture. The cleaning is particularly difficult when the milk has dried on the surfaces of the mixing head. On the other hand, if the cleaning is not carried out properly and frequently enough, there can be hygienic problems in any subsequent use of the device.
This, there is a need in the art for improved cleaning processes and devices that incorporate the same, and these are now provided by the present invention.